by Mia Downing
“Pie?” My stomach rumbled and panged so hard that I’d eat sketchy food.
We sat on the bed and feasted. After, Marek took a quick sponge bath while I made up the bed with fresh linens. I couldn’t wait to settle into those fresh sheets…until he came out of the bath with damp hair, his lean body naked.
From my front-seat view on the bed, my breath caught as the jumping through time and energy loss aspect caught up with me. Lust heated my skin and sizzled over every nerve as he turned for something and gave me a nice view of his hard ass.
He turned back around and paused to cock his head. He must have felt my need on the bond, because he shot me an arched brow as his dick started to harden. That just made things worse on my part, and I fought not to squirm as my core pulsed with wetness.
“Not so tired?” He climbed onto the bed, crawled up between my parted legs and dropped a lazy but quick kiss to my mouth. Already fully hard, his erection rubbed against my belly, tantalizing me.
“No.” I snaked a hand down his chest to stroke him, but his fist grabbed my wrist.
“Not so fast,” he murmured, sliding my hand until it rested above my head on the pillow. “Last time, I wasn’t allowed free rein.” He lifted my other hand, so both were now above my head.
I sucked in a breath as my heart rate jumped to a full gallop. “And that worked to our advantage. That’s how I knew to break the bond.”
“Shh.”
He covered my mouth with his, this kiss hard, hot, and possessive as his tongue demanded entrance. I moaned and kissed him back, letting him take whatever he needed from me.
As he dipped down to take a nipple into his mouth, I sighed and tried to keep from sinking my hands in his hair. Unlike other times when I’d guarded my feelings, I hid nothing. As he began to nip and nibble and suck, I moaned and begged and allowed the teal to grow on the bond so that both my passion and love for him consumed me.
As he worked his way back up my fevered body, the tip of his cock at my entrance, he paused, his large hands covering mine at each side of my head.
He stared down at me, his gaze loving and intense. “Remember when I said being bonded was more than marriage? More than anything in your time?”
Every nerve on my skin tingled, alive with his words. “Yes.”
“After tonight, do you doubt it?”
I swallowed, a little scared as I whispered, “No.”
This bridged too close to admitting I loved him. I wanted that. I did. But it took everything in me not to hide the building teal on the bond from his prying as I felt him prod me mentally.
“Good. I love you. Never doubt that, either.” His lips claimed mine, and he sank home slowly, stretching me inch by glorious inch, his hips pressing mine deeper into the feather bed.
Already close to orgasm, I wouldn’t need much more than a few thrusts to push me over the edge. I urged him on, and when my hands cupped his ass to drive him deeper, he didn’t complain.
I could feel on the bond that he drew near, too, and I whispered, “Make me come.”
His hand threaded between us and pinched my clit. My core clamped down on his length for an agonizing moment as I teetered. But as he shuddered, I exploded into a million pleasurable pieces and immediately set the pent-up energy of the after free. And like when I’d almost drowned, I lost direction of up or down or anything but his hips shoving me into the bed, his lips hoarsely calling my name as he came, too.
As I panted in the dark, clutching him close, I said the words to myself, practicing.
I love you, Marek.
Because I had to start somewhere.
Marek
I lay in the dark, trapped in that delicious state between being awake and asleep with Skye at my side in that big featherbed I loved. I didn’t think things could get better, more right. Our lovemaking had been so much more intense since she’d been open with her energy. All that teal… I didn’t realize how much she’d hid from me, and I reveled in what it meant that she no longer did.
She stirred at my side and gently prodded me. “Marek?”
Something told me she wanted me to be asleep, so I didn’t answer. If I were wrong, she’d shake me harder.
She poked again, and I kept my breathing even. Deep.
“I—” She swallowed, and nervous energy flooded the bond between us.
And if she could hide her feelings in the energy, then I could, too. I smoothed the bond, keeping everything quiet even though I wanted to hold my breath.
“Marek.” She poked the bond again. Finally, she whispered, “I love you.”
I suppressed a tremor of joy and had to fight to keep the bond from reflecting it. Tears stung my eyes. How could my life get any better? This meant she’d tell me out loud soon, and I’d have everything.
As she snuggled against me and slept, I stayed awake, enjoying every bit of that teal love that danced between our bond.
Skye
I had no idea what had gotten into Marek, but late the next morning, his energy blinded me with so much annoying yellow that matched the pep in his step and his cheery whistle. He got water heated so I could have a proper bath, and he fed me fresh muffins the caretaker’s wife had made.
Then he made love to me so thoroughly—twice—that I needed another bath. It was like being open on the bond had fed some manly need of his that made him want to fuck me senseless. I was down for that on all levels, especially since he made me feel so wanted, needed, and loved.
We spent the rest of the afternoon poking around the library, and as dark neared, I ventured into my original’s office. I had no clue what to think of her now, except I understood her a little more. I had only begun to love him What would this feel like in ten years? The thought of losing him would make me insane.
“You okay?” Marek asked as he peered in from the hall.
“Yes. Just looking.”
“I put Burke’s treasures in the vault for them to find. I have no clue when they’re laying over, but there’s nothing in the journal.” They wrote in their journal in the vault when they stayed at the house, and I marveled at how they came and went.
He came in and tugged me close to him so he could bury his nose in my hair. “You ready to go home?”
“I am.” But I hesitated. “But the timeline changed so much. What does this mean for us in our time?”
“I don’t know. It could mean nothing.” He kissed my hair.
And it could mean everything.
I tried to push that thought away as we dressed to leave. I had set my rinsed-out leggings and shirt on the balcony to dry in the sun, and I shoved them into the bag. She had a 1900s dress in her closet I could wear, and I had put on the corset and drawers from before as they worked for this era.
At dark, we took the path from the house to the cemetery, holding hands as we walked, each step taking me closer to knowing our final fate. My palms grew damp, and I couldn’t slow my breathing as we reached the jump stone.
“You ready?”
“No.” I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. “Yes.”
“We’ll be fine,” he encouraged.
“You don’t know that.” Really, when had I become such a crybaby? I couldn’t stop myself as the tears welled, and my lip trembled.
“I know I’m with you. And that’s all I need.” He bent to kiss me, his lips sweet yet possessive.
I wanted to say I loved him. This should be it, right? When I should be saying this stuff, when we didn’t know if we’d live or die or be stuck between times?
As he lifted his head, I froze. My mouth fought to form the words I’d whispered to him the night before.
“Skye.” He cradled my head against his warm chest. “I love you. And this will be okay.”
I nodded, sad that I was such a dismal chicken shit after everything we’d been through. But the idea of telling him scared me more than not, and that had to be wrong.
“I’m going to start.” His arms shifted, and he held me while his other
pressed the necessary button. “May the light carry us forward.”
I held him tighter, trying not to panic as the blinding light swirled from his watch, encompassing us.
My last conscious thought before we jumped was that I loved him, and I’d die too afraid to say it.
Chapter twenty-five
Skye
We broke through to present day in the middle of the night during a storm. I gasped against the freezing rain as thunder rumbled overhead. But as the shock wave rippled through me, I blinked, trying to orient faster. The timeline had changed. Again.
I was me, still wearing my corset, the flimsy cotton shirt and skirt of summer attire becoming soaked through as the rain sluiced over me. I remembered everything—our jump, our originals, Leah, the point, and me being too chicken to say I loved him.
Marek.
I spun, searching for him on the other side of the stone. The light from the street lit just enough of the dark for me to find nothing but the other gravestones and trees, the grass icy.
“Marek?” My heart pounded as water dripped from my hair and down my nose and chin. Hot tears mixed, and I sank to the ground as I shook.
I hadn’t told him I loved him, and now, he was gone.
Was that the shift in time? That I wouldn’t get to keep him? I rocked as I held my knees to my chest, unable to stand. I had to get myself to my apartment—
There. Marek’s boots stuck out from behind Ike’s bench.
I scrambled to my feet, half crawling and half stumbling to his side. He lay on his back, his arms stretched above him, his eyes closed. I slapped his pale face, the skin cold under my palms.
“Marek. Wake up,” I begged as I patted his cheek. “I love you, and I didn’t tell you. Please, wake up.”
He groaned, and relief ripped through my soul. Without opening his eyes, a hand went to his head.
Wincing, his hand covered mine on his cold cheeks. “Skye.”
“Marek.”
“You’re squishing my face.” His eyes popped open with confusion as I let go. “Where are we?”
“Home, I guess. Let’s get up and get to my apartment.”
I helped him rise, and we both shook as we went as quickly as we could without slipping on the ice. My car still sat in the driveway, and the key under the mat still opened the door, so the timeline hadn’t changed that.
As we made it inside, I collapsed against him in the hall. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. One moment, I was there, then time rippled…” He paused. “Oh.”
I stepped out of his arms in question, and he showed me his wrist. The watch had shattered, the glass over the dials broken.
“Oh.” I glanced at it and then back up at his confused face. “What does that mean?”
“Well…I’m stuck here.” And as dread started to churn in my stomach, he smiled. That smile became a laugh. “You’re stuck with me.”
“You’re not a time traveler.” I dropped my gaze to that broken watch. “Oh, you’re going to hate me.”
“Stop. I can’t hate you. I was ready to retire, remember? So this is even better. The choice has been taken from me. I have you, and a budding career as an author, and we can be happy.”
Yes. I grabbed his soaked, cold torso and hugged him as he stroked my back. “I love you.”
His hands froze.
“Did you hear me? I said I love you.” I said it louder, braver. Just in case. I hadn’t said it to anyone but Grace before, and I had to make sure I’d done it right. “I’m not missing out on saying it again. You terrified me out there.”
He buried his nose in my soaked hair and squished me tight. “I heard you. Loud and clear. I love you, too.”
Skye
One month later.
“Set it over there,” I instructed the furniture guys.
They carried the new rug into the foyer of the manor house, set it down, and left. Hopefully, Marek would like this one better than the ugly one he’d had for eons. Though primary colors should go well together, those…clashed. The new rug had muted reds and golds that went well with the woodwork and the paintings and even the rug in the hallway. He’d said the old rug had memories for him, and I never asked what they were. But I hoped the news I had to tell him would give him insight to newer, better memories.
After we jumped and discovered his watch broken, we decided to go forward gingerly to see what else had changed in our timeline. So far, nothing had. Well, until today.
After returning, I still had the week off from school and work, and since our adventure had taken us two days, we had gone to New York.
For me, the goal was simple—Manhattan was a place he hadn’t fucked her in his memories. And he’d always wanted to see the sights he’d read about in books. So we stayed at the nicest hotel and played at being tourists and had lots of decadent sex.
And then on the way home, he’d wanted a dog. The impulsiveness made no sense until I realized he’d never had something permanent at home that needed care, like a garden or a pet. Neither had I.
And I loved him that much more when he asked for the dog who had been at the pound the longest. They brought us to a bonded pair of mutts cowering in the corner of their cage. Their owner had died of cancer, and the big, scruffy male loomed over the tiny, neatly groomed female in a protective manner that took my breath away. Marek had taken them both, telling me we’d each now have a pet.
So Duchess and Ted came to live at the manor. It took a bit to get them adjusted to new rules, hence the need for a new rug. I had secretly praised Ted when he’d lifted a leg on the table, since I hadn’t liked that, either.
As I installed the new rug, Marek was meeting with his agent. She happened to be in town on her way to see her parents. They had met at the diner for coffee to discuss the book he finally finished. I had finally read this new version, and I loved it all, especially how he stopped time. The whole thing seemed surreal a month out.
I loved him, and I told him every day. And each day, it got easier.
And Grace had been thrilled that I’d poorly crawled, and she’d been even more impressed with her gifts. I hadn’t realized how much she helped Marek during our short relationship break until he presented her with a few of the less expensive coins from the treasure, which Grace would covet since they’d belonged to our infamous pirate friend. He explained later he couldn’t have explained something more valuable, but he owed her the moon.
Our group gift had been a second edition of Pride and Prejudice that Marek said I could take from the library, which she had loved. I also owed her the moon, but I couldn’t explain the gift of a first edition, even though he had one of those, too.
As I finished unrolling the rug, Marek returned, announced by a chorus of howls from Ted and yips from Duchess. They burst into the foyer first, pleased to attack me with kisses as they showed Marek where to find me.
His brows raised as he spied me on the new rug, my lap full of dogs. “What’s this?”
“You hated the old rug, and it smelled of pee.”
“True.” His mouth quirked as he settled next to me, his hand running over the Oriental pattern. “I like this one.”
I bravely stated, “You never told me what the memories were for keeping that old one.”
“Well…” And he blushed. My kinky man never blushed.
I smacked him. “Sex with her? Seriously?”
“Sweetness, it was really dirty, kinky, and—”
I smacked him again.
“They’re not my memories,” he defended as he put his hands up. “It’s like having dreams of really good porn with you, but it’s not you, but because she looks like you, it’s legal.”
It wasn’t legal, but whatever. “Well, we can make new memories on this rug, so you forget all that.”
“Excellent.” He leaned in to kiss me, and I broke it off quickly before I could chicken out of what I needed to tell him. I had vowed to not chicken out again after that last jump through time.
<
br /> I drew in a breath and said, “I need to talk to you. It’s about the timeline.”
“Okay.” Duchess climbed into Marek’s lap, and he rubbed her ears as he cocked his head in that interested way of his. “What did you discover?”
“I got my period,” I blurted.
I had called my gynecologist when the office opened, and she talked me off the ledge of panic. This was a good thing, and we’d have to do more testing to be sure. But she said that sometimes, the body worked magic. I knew the magic had to do with a certain watch shattering.
I’d always wanted kids but had given up thinking I’d find a good man. Now, I had the guy. Maybe this could be our reality years from now, and I wanted all the little blue-eyed Mareks this old house could hold.
“Okay.” He waited expectantly for more with that polite expression that told me maybe he didn’t get it. “And that means…”
I became flustered as he failed to connect the dots. I didn’t want to explain, and my heart pounded louder as I fought for words. “Leah had said she hadn’t thought she could get pregnant, but after Burke died, she did.”
“Oh.” Brows shooting up, he nodded in understanding. “I never had to deal with a woman and a period before except my mother, and that’s…” He shuddered. “I have no clue what all this means.”
“It means there’s a possibility I could get pregnant.” There. I’d finally said it, and I sat back, pleased with myself.
“Are you planning on cheating, then? Because I’m still sterile.”
I smacked him in the chest. “No.”
“I’m teasing.” He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles as he shot me a sweet smile. “And down the road, we can do whatever. I don’t even know how you feel about that.”
“I want children someday. Not tomorrow.” Ted licked my face, and I laughed. “We have dogs, you know.”
He smiled. “I know.”
“But Marek, what if you’re not sterile?” My blood ran cold as I thought about how much sex we’d had in the last month. So. Much. Sex. So many orgasms. “The watch broke.”